“When the seeds of a flower have been planted in the ground and the first leaves begin to sprout, the gardener does not tug on the leaves every day to make the plant grow faster. He trusts that nature will play her role, and when the time is right, the flower will blossom.”
My dear friend Arielle Ford wrote the above in the “Savor the Waiting” chapter of her bestselling book, The Soulmate Secret. She was writing about manifesting lasting love, and in the interim, enjoying the peace and ease that comes with not being in a relationship. (You know, because with boys, life has a tendency to get busier and noisier, especially when they have things like high-octane hobbies, ultra big-screen TVs, hyper-ass dogs, and kids.)
I followed Arielle’s advice diligently, to a beautiful conclusion with an extremely calm man who balances all of that peacefulness with a love of going FAST (in cars, on go karts, golf carts, boats, skis, planes, bicycles, motorcycles, lawnmowers, horseback…), a movie-theater sized TV, and a German-Shorthair-Pointer who can—and does—dismember pillows in an instant. Thankfully, his daughter is a dream.
I’m so grateful Arielle planted this savor-the-waiting mantra into my consciousness. In my mostly quiet time the year before I met Larry, I stored up the emotional, mental, and physical reserves needed to embrace our new, fuller life. There were challenges, for sure—mostly because I wasn’t used to (nor had the schedule for) having so much FUN! “This guy has some nerve expecting me to play so often!” I’d complain to friends. The absurdity of it would crack us up.
A high-quality problem, or so they say.
Learning to make time for adventure had side benefits for my business: it helped me to relish opportunities to savor the waiting in my career.
Like with my own writing. Which I’m finally making more time for.
Savoring the wait in your writing life may take some practice. But once you’ve committed to the mindset, it becomes more natural. The alternative is to be a bestselling author who doesn’t have the presence of mind to enjoy the ride. Or a newbie so intent on sprinting to the finish line, she misses out on the beauty of the climb.
It’s no small task outlining + writing your book and proposal. You’re looking at hundreds, thousands of hours in the chair. Even so, there will be plenty of opportunities to savor the waiting when you have to stop to figure something out, pour over difficult-to-understand research, connect with an interviewee or co-author, or when you’re stuck because your freelance editor has yet to have the peace of mind to finish your edits.
And that’s not including waiting on:
*getting an agent
*signing your publishing deal
*approving the copy edits on your final manuscript
*viewing your cover for the first time
*holding your printed book in your hands
*waiting on reviews, sales, royalties, reprints, press, next offers, and on and on and on it goes…
See how many opportunities you have to nail this?
Here are a few things I savor with extra verve while I wait (I’d love to know what you do):
1. catch-up sleep
2. cuddling
3. cooking
4. connecting with dear friends
5. reading, reading, reading
6. bettering myself + my craft
7. enjoying life’s adventures—there are so many.
No matter what you’re waiting on, there will always be something else to look forward to.
Savor it all.
xx
